Hotel of Nightmares
by I love creepy things
Summary: MILD HORROR. A road trip with her friends suddenly takes a turn for the worst when Ashlen Daniels finds herself in a haunted hotel room. At first she believes it's just a gimmick to make the hotel more popular but then things begin to happen. Ashlen begins to get headaches, starts to feel sick and believes she is seeing things. Is it all in her head or is something really after her
1. Chapter 1

**This story is actually a slight rewrite of the story I started 3 years ago in my DA account. There is a reason this will take place in a hotel rather than a forest so please don't be so quick to judge. It will take a few chapters to explain this reason but I promise there is a logical reason behind it.**

 **I actually posted this a couple days ago but deleted the story when I realised I posted it too soon. I still had a heck of a lot of editing to do and I wanted to change some things after I posted. Now I am reposting with it completely edited and 300+ words longer. I hope you enjoy**

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Why was this happening to me?! What did _I_ do to deserve this kind of punishment?! How did I even end up _escaping_ him? Better yet why was he even after me? I thought he preferred young children and lived in forests. Since I was neither in a forest or a child he shouldn't be here; right? Had he followed me from a forest or did he actually live in the hotel room? The hotel staff did say the room was haunted but why would he be here?

All of these questions raced through my mind as I ran down the hallway and away from my hotel room. I dared not look behind me in fear he was following me. I had already broken the _Don't Look_ rule and had nearly paid for it. I'm not sure _how_ I had done it but I had been lucky enough to pull away from him. However, if the legends were true then I knew it wouldn't be long until he came after me again.

As I neared the stairs I finally took the risk and glanced behind me. Nothing was there. With a heavy sigh of relief I leaned against the wall and allowed my heart rate to return to normal. Maybe Mary was right, maybe we would have been better off camping; because maybe then this would have never happened.

It all started only a couple days ago. I, along with some of my friends, had been traveling. We didn't really have any plans on where we were going; it was just one of those road trip kind of things. It was the start of summer so school had been let out and no one had a job to worry about. Although I had graduated high school about two years ago I hadn't entered college. Since my parents were getting annoyed at my _laziness_ I had promised to find a job by the end of summer. It was either that or I'd be forced to enter a cheap college and I'd take earning money over sitting in classes any day.

The friends I was traveling with were Max Gunter, April Ativan, Simon Bagman and Mary Little. Out of the four of them I am the closest to Max and April; though only because I've known them longer. While I've been friends with Max and April since elementary school I hadn't met Simon or Mary until my first year of high school. They… they aren't really the easiest to get along with if I must be honest. Simon is somewhat of a jerk and Mary is, in lack of better words, just weird. Not necessarily in a bad way but she has been known to confused even her parents with her weirdness.

Anyways, after a few hours of endless driving we finally reached a city. Although I hadn't been paying attention to any welcome signs I knew we had to be in Las Vegas. While I've never been to the city before I have seen it depicted on TV a few times. Besides, what other place had this many hotels, casinos and flashing neon lights? Well, maybe a few but if there is I've never heard of them; or forgot about them.

"Wow, Sin City." Max, the driver of the van, whistled and confirmed my suspicions to where we were. "Hey, what do you say we stay in one of these expensive hotels for a couple of nights?"

Out of the five of us Max is the richest and has a tendency to spoil his friends. Not only is Max richer than any of us, but his entire family is actually one of the richest in the state. Needless to say, however, unlike many stereotypical rich kids Max doesn't act like a spoiled asshole. Nor does he spend money needlessly; outside treating his friends that is. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that he was never overly spoiled as a child and had been sent to public school instead of private. Either way, at the thought of staying in an expensive hotel, I couldn't help but grin.

"Are you sure you should be spending that kind of money on us, Max?" April asked from besides me, her soft voice slightly uncomfortable and timid. It didn't surprise me though and I doubt it surprised the others; April has never liked people spending money on her; especially if she finds no reason behind it.

"Don't worry, April." Max answered with a laugh and turned to grin at her after stopping at a red light. "I have more than enough money to _buy_ a hotel if I wanted to. Besides it will only be for a couple nights so why not treat my friends to something that might only happen once?"

"Yeah, don't be such a kill joy." Simon scoffed from the back seat, which he had to himself. "Let him spend his money the way he wants."

As April shot the boy a glare I resisted the urge to sigh. After four years of knowing him I've learned that it's best to just ignore Simon when he's being a jerk. While Simon isn't exactly _mean_ he tends to speak before he thinks; all the time. He is actually really blunt and seems to enjoy the reactions he gets for being a jerk. Despite that Simon can actually be really nice when he wants to be and he won't hesitate to protect a friend. Still, that boy needs to think before he speaks otherwise he'll anger someone who will do more than just glare at him.

"April does have a point though, Max; there are many different meanings to the word expensive. What exactly did you have in mind?" I asked and heard Simon scoff as April flashed me a thankful smile. I returned it with a smile of my own as the street light turned green and Max continued down the road.

"I was kind of thinking of a hotel that has a little something for everyone. Like maybe a pool, a spa, a restaurant and perhaps even an arcade since none of us can legally gamble yet. So, unfortunately, a casino would be out of the question." He answered with a shrug and began to drive slower after a car cut us off. It seemed that city traffic was the same no matter where you went. Well, at least it made it easier to look for a hotel.

"Hotels are such a bother." Mary huffed from the passenger seat in front of me and I just barely saw her cross her arms against her chest. "Why don't we just sleep in the van? Or better yet find a camp ground and sleep under the stars?"

This time I couldn't hold back my sigh as I rolled my eyes; hearing the others do the same. Mary is a _very_ confusing person. There have been times where I have given myself headaches by just trying to think of her logic. One reason she's very confusing is that one minute she'll love something and then the next she'll hate it. She's also the nature loving in our group but instead of hating vehicles Mary hates tall buildings. This would make sense if she was scared of heights but she's not. Despite all that Mary is actually a very nice person who rarely gets angry.

" _Because_ , Mary, I think we'd _rather_ like to have fun than do something as boring as camp. Besides, it's not warm enough to sleep under the stars and the van is too small for everyone to sleep in comfortably." Simon answered, his tone noticeably annoyed. While I think the rude tones were unnecessary this time I could understand where it was coming from.

Simon has known Mary at longer than the rest of us have. Ironically, I would have thought that meant he'd be used to her weirdness by now. In actuality her weirdness annoys him the most out of the four of us. Considering that Simon has low patience with most things it's actually not that surprising. What does surprises me, though, is that the two continue to hang out even though they rarely seem to get along.

"Oh, and staying at a hotel that will probably cost a thousand dollars an hour will be fun?!" Mary snapped back, having spun her head around to glare at Simon. I didn't have to look behind me to know Simon was glaring back as I silently hoped that someone would butt in before things could get much worse. _I_ wasn't foolish enough to do it myself; not after what happened last time.

"Don't worry, Mary; I'm not stupid enough to go somewhere _that_ expensive." Max laughed and I saw him give her a playful wink through the rear-view mirror. "Maybe five hundred dollars an hour will be fine enough."

Mary only sighed at Max's joke but didn't say anything else. Thankfully Simon didn't say anything either and things quickly became quiet again. I was really grateful Max spoke up when he did. Just thinking of the possible fight that might have happened is enough to give me a headache. They fought worse than I did with my older sister and, according to my mother, we'd kill each other if given a chance.

As more time passed I became increasingly bored. We hadn't yet found a hotel that wasn't connected to a casino and the few we did looked way too expensive. I also stopped trying to help look, as besides all the flashing lights and huge buildings, I wasn't even sure what to look for anymore. I became so bored that I regretted not loading any music onto my phone before I left home. So instead I did the next best thing that I knew would distract myself; drawing.

Reaching down for the bag I kept to my side I pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. Flipping to clean page I began to draw one of those two circle chart things. It's one of those charts where you have two separate subjects but put what they have in common in the middle. I can't remember what they are really called but it doesn't really matter. I sometimes like making them just for the fun of it, though mostly only when I get bored.

I decided to label this chart Monsters. On the left side I wrote Real above the circle while on the other side I wrote Fake. The smaller circle, which was created by the two bigger ones, I decide to label Unsure. Once that was done I began to list different types monsters. Whether they were movie, myth or legend I listed them in the categories I believed they belonged in.

I have always been a big monster movie fan. Some of my favorites were old fashioned vampires, werewolves and Freddy Kruger. Movies like those rarely ever scare me nor do they give me nightmares; at least none that I can remember. The only monsters that really freak me out are zombies or other creatures similar to them. The idea of being slowly eaten alive, to actually have your flesh ripped from your bones, makes me feel sick. Werewolves may do the same, but at least they don't take forever to actually kill you.

Vampires, mummies and Frankenstein's monster I labelled under Real. Vampires, aside from the powers and dying in sun light were actually very real. They were typically just people who have a medical disorder where they constantly need blood. While most will go to the hospital to get transfusions there are a few who prefer to drink it.

Mummies are also really real but they don't rise from the dead like books or movies portray; curse or no curse. As for Frankenstein's monster he was actually more of a guess. I had read an article online not too long ago stating that his body was found in the dungeon of a castle. I'm not even sure if it's true and I can't remember the name of the article. Still, I thought it was interesting enough to write down as real for now.

So far I only had Bigfoot, sea monsters and lake monsters under Unsure. I have heard many sighting stories that it's getting hard to figure out if they are all fake or if some, in fact, are true. It's actually kind of annoying, really. I mean I don't mind a good mystery where it leaves you guessing but that is how it should stay. Why ruin the mystery by trying to prove if it's real or fake? I personally think it's stupid but that was just me.

'Werewolves, zombies, lagoon monsters, Slenderman-'

"Are you sure you should put Slenderman in the fake group?"

April's sudden question startled me so badly that I actually flinched. I had been so focused on my chart that I hadn't been aware she had been watching me. When I looked over to her she flashed me what I assumed was an apologetic smile. Although at the same time it looked as though she was holding in a laugh. I only rolled eyes and shut the note pad as I leaned back in my seat.

"Yes, because I don't believe in Slenderman. There isn't enough evidence to prove that he is real and people keep making up new information about him. No one really knows what he is and why he does the stuff he does. Like what does he do to his victims? Why does he prefer children over adults? Is he a demon, a monster or maybe an alien?" I questioned with a small shrug, trying to get my point across. April only replied with an eye roll and warned me not to be so quick to judge before she looked out her window.

While April isn't as much of a monster fan that I am she believes in the supernatural; big time. So she will often warn us to think twice before we judge something not to be real. Most of us, including myself, just roll our eyes at her. I love monster movies but I don't believe the creatures from them actually exist; there is no evidence that they do. I'm a more of a need to see it to believe it kind of person. Although, that's not to say I still don't enjoy the idea of monsters being real; I just know they aren't.

When it comes to Slenderman I actually don't know a lot about him. All I've learned is that he is a very tall, faceless man. He can change his height to make himself look taller or shorter and even stretch out his limbs as far as he wanted. I learned that he kidnaps children but it is unknown what happens to them afterwards; though I have read some theories. Most include killing the children and leaving them in trees. Others include eating the children which is why they are never seen again. I myself have my own theory about what happens.

I actually don't doubt that Slenderman is a killer. However, what I _can't_ see is him killing the children he takes. I think that would be way too demonic in my opinion. Instead I think he kills the humans he thinks should be killed; such as people he views as bad or just people who get in his way of a kidnapping. Although that is just my personal opinion. While I agree that Slenderman is a very interesting creature… monster… person… _whatever_ he is I didn't believe he was real.

How I wish I believed otherwise at the time.

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 **Chapter 2 and 3 need to be edited before I post. Please stand by and I will get those two chapters out as soon as possible**


	2. Chapter 2

**I really hate how I forgot to mention how the friends or the main OC looks. I tried to do that here but I'll have to leave it for chapter 3 instead. Please enjoy the chapter regardless**

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The Iris Lucida Hotel. That is the name of the hotel Max had found about twenty minutes after my conversation with April. According to Mary Iris Lucida is Latin for Rainbow Bright. Yeah, I think it sounds _much_ better in Latin. The outside of the building was very colorful and had a flashing neon rainbow on the roof; which was likely the cause of its name. It looked about six or seven stories high and was about a block wide. From the outside it looked like a rather family friendly hotel.

The inside was just as colorful as the outside. Everything was either painted or carpeted in bright, cheerful colors. Even the furniture, paintings and doors were oddly colorful. However, surprisingly, nothing looked out of place or clashed. The only thing that _wasn't_ overly colorful was the check in desk, which was a light brown color. However, despite the room's friendly and almost childlike look, the prices were anything but.

The hotel had to be one of the most expensive I've ever seen, let alone been in. There was a two hundred dollar fee just for all the attractions the hotel seemed to have. That included the pool, spa, lounge and other things Vegas hotels seemed to have. There was also a restaurant and a bar but I'm pretty sure they weren't included in the fee. In most hotels I've been to you get a complimentary breakfast but otherwise pay for your food. I think the bar was self-explanatory. After all, why include it in the fee if anyone under twenty-one can't even enter?

The cost of rooms themselves varied on their sizes like most hotels. For a single room it cost about five hundred dollars a night; which I don't think is too bad. The rooms with two beds seemed to cost nearly double that at nine hundred and fifty a night. The suites, which are rooms that have three to four beds, cost the most at over a thousand a night. Add in the extra two hundred dollars required for the pool, spa and other stuff and you better hope you are rich. I wondered if all Vegas hotels were like this or if there were even worse ones out there.

Max had suggested that Mary, April and I all share a room while he and Simon did the same. Unfortunately I have serious issues when it comes to sharing a hotel room; or any bedroom in general. This is mostly caused by the fact that I was forced to share a room with my older sister when I was younger. She… wasn't the nicest roommate. She'd either keep me up by talking on her phone, telling me scary stories or snoring. Ever since I've gotten a room to myself I find it really difficult to fall asleep if I have other people in the room with me. I can if I have to but I seriously don't like it.

Thankfully Max was more than understanding when I asked him for my own room. Since we've been friends for many years he's met my sister a few times. To this day I still think he had a crush on her, though I'm not sure if he still does. Regardless I was grateful that he agreed to let me have my own room, even though it would be more expensive in the end. In return I promised to take over driving duties whenever he wanted me to.

"Hello, welcome to Iris Lucida Hotel. How can I help you?" The person behind the desk asked as the person in front of me left. He was a friendly looking man with short shaggy black hair, grey eyes and a David name tag pinned to his red uniform.

"Yes, please. I'd like to check in for one for three nights." I said politely as I approached the desk and held out the correct amount of money for him, which Max had given me. This way I could check myself in without waiting for him to do it for me.

The man seemed to study me for a moment before he slowly took the money from me; as if he was unsure if he should. His suspicion didn't bother me nor did it surprise me when he counted the money to make sure it was all there. He must not get many twenty year olds that pay for multiple night with cash and those he does probably aren't honest to where they got the money. I didn't mind and unless I was asked about it or accused of gambling I'd just ignore it.

After what felt like a few minutes David seemed satisfied and moved the money into a cash register. As he began to type something into his computer I decided to take the time to study the front lobby better. Besides all the bright, cheerful colors there was a surprising amount of people walking around. What I found even more surprising was that a lot of these people were actually kids. Most were walking with their parents as they were either checking in or out. Others were running through a door that was labelled arcade on the side. A few kids were even just running around the lobby to apparently annoy the other guests.

Is it possible that this hotel was actually cheap compared to others? Or are a lot of families here just rich? This was Vegas so I suppose it wouldn't be surprising if either were true. Although, if this was one of the cheaper hotels I don't think I even want to know what a more expensive one is like. The hotels that have casinos attached are no doubt ten times more expensive than this place. Still, seventeen hundred dollars for three nights… I have _no_ idea if that is considered expensive or cheap here.

Once I became bored of watching the kids pester other guests I looked back towards the check in desk. The desk itself is actually pretty big; being a long row with five people standing behind it. They all wore the same uniform and had name tags pinned to their chests. Strangely enough they also stood in a boy-girl type pattern; with there being three men and two women.

From where I stood I could also see my friends. Max and Simon seemed to have just finished checking in and were walking to the nearest elevator. As for Mary and April they were stuck waiting behind a family of six that was trying to check in. Although they were on the far end of the check in desk I could see a frown on Mary's face. She still wasn't happy about staying in a hotel but as long as they get a room on the bottom floor it should help improve her mood.

"Alright, you'll be staying in room 207 on the second floor. Would you like a bellhop?" David asked, having torn me from my thoughts. I looked back over to him to see he had finished typing on his computer and was now holding out two card keys towards me.

"No thank you, I'm fine." I said and smiled as I took the keys from him. While a bellhop actually sounded interesting it seemed somewhat lazy to get one as I only had two things to carry; one of which was strapped to my back.

"Hold on a minute, you gave her _207_?" A female voice asked as I had been about to leave. I turned back around and saw that the voice belonged to the woman who was standing next to David.

"David, you _know_ that room is haunted! We only give it to people who _ask_ for it. Give her a different one!" She hastily ordered before turning her attention back to the man that was trying to check in. David heaved a small sigh and turned back to me with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. Please just give me a moment and I'll get you a new r-"

"No, it's fine." I quickly interrupted before he had a chance to finish. "I don't mind if the room is haunted, I'll keep it."

"Are you sure? Normally not many guests we give the room to stay in it longer than a day. Many guests have complained of weird things happening in the room; some have even claimed to have seen the ghost. It's why we typically don't give the room to just anyone." The woman explained and shot David a look. The man looked embarrassed but I just looked between the two, confused.

If this was some promotional act to make the hotel more popular then it wasn't working. While the idea itself seemed kind of interesting it also seemed pretty cliché. The idea of a haunted hotel has been overused in so many stories and movies that I'm actually surprised it still draws people in. Although, I suppose I can't blame people for being interested in that kind of stuff. Movies and stories are one thing but staying a night in an actual haunted hotel room had to be a treat. I suppose I should just be glad they weren't charging me extra for the experience.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Besides, I like scary stuff like that." I answered and stepped out of the way so the person behind me could step up to the desk. "If things become too intense or if the ghost tries to hurt me I'll ask to change rooms."

"Well, if you are certain then please enjoy your stay; please be careful." The woman said as I began to walk towards the stairs and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Wow, they were really pushing this whole haunted though.

As I stepped into the stairwell I was actually surprised when I saw the lack of color. Instead of the bright, cheerful colors I have seen so far the stairwell was made up of browns. The walls were a light brown color and I could see the natural groves that had once been a tree. The stairs themselves were a slightly darker brown color and were made out of finely polished wood. The railing itself looked as though it were made out of birch.

As I walked up the stairs, dragging my suitcase behind me, I wondered if it was safe to have a stairwell completely made out of wood. If there was ever a fire it could be devastating, especially for the people stuck on higher floors. Well, maybe there were less flammable escape routes in cases like that.

When I entered the second floor I was greeted with the color purple. The carpet was a dark purple, the wall paper was a lighter purple and even the doors were a pale purple color. The only thing _not_ purple was the ceiling. Although when I looked at it long enough I swear I could see the faintest hints of purple in it. There was so much purple all at once that it almost gave it a headache; _almost_. Thankfully it didn't take me long to find my room; since the stairwell opened up near room 218 I just had to backtrack to find it.

Like every other door it was a light purple color and had a golden 204 above the peephole. As I placed my suitcase down to unlock the door I couldn't help but hope that the room wasn't completely purple like the hall was. While I don't hate the color it was far from my favorite. I don't think I could even handle too much of my favorite color all at once; although, then again I wouldn't mind seeing a hallway like this one in blue.

"Oh my god." I whispered to myself after I entered the room. As the door closed behind me it suddenly became very clear to why these rooms were so expensive.

The hotel room looked _a lot_ like a small apartment. The entrance opened up into a small closet area where you could put your shoes and hang your coats. There wasn't anything really special about it and it looked no different from any other I've seen. There was even a small mat to put wet shoes on so the carpet didn't get ruined.

Stepping further into the room I entered what looked like a small living room. On one side was expensive looking furniture that was placed around a small coffee table. Hanging on the wall in front of the furniture was a flat screen TV; the remote for it on the coffee table. Next to the TV were two light brown doors with a decent size gap between them. The room had no windows but was covered in a light indigo wallpaper; as well as some random pictures of wild life.

Connected to the living room was what looked like a small kitchen. There were a couple cabinets, a drawer which likely held cutlery and cooking utensils, a sink, a full sized fridge and even a stove. There was even a small two person table off to the side which I suppose I could eat at if I wanted to. Unlike the living room and front entrance, which had a light purple carpet, the kitchen floor was made up of white tiles. Like in the living room the kitchen lacked any windows so it lead me to believe I was somewhere in the middle of the building.

The two rooms left to be seen were the bathroom and the bedroom. They were likely what the two brown doors lead to but I wasn't sure which door lead to what room. With only one way to find out I took my chances and opened the door on the right first. Walking in I found myself in the bathroom.

The room was fairly large for a hotel bathroom; at least compared to others I've seen. The counter was a long rectangle with an oval sink in the middle. Hanging about it was a mirror just as long and reflecting the rest of the room. Taking up most of the room was a bathtub with a shower attached. It was rather large and could easily fit two people or one fat person. The toilet itself was nothing special and the toilet paper was folded in a V shape. Like most bathrooms it had a tile floor and it was made up of white and creamy purple colors.

'Man, I'm going to enjoy that later.' I thought to myself as I stared at the bathtub dreamily. It even had built in jets!

After shaking my thoughts clean I exited the bathroom so I could bedroom. Compared to the rest of what I've seen so far the bedroom wasn't that impressive. Besides having a desk for my laptop and a large walk in closet it looked no different from what you'd see in a normal priced hotel. Much like the rest of the hotel room the carpet was a light purple color, as were the bed sheets and pillows. The bed itself looked as though it was made out of expensive wood while its blanket was made out of blue, brown and green colors. The wallpaper was the same from the living room and pictures of wilderness hung on the walls.

"Damn, if this is what a single room looks like I wonder what the suites look like." I mumbled to myself as I tossed my suitcase on the bed. It bounced a couple of times on the soft mattress as I slipped my bag off my back and dropped it onto the pillow.

Since I was only going to be here for a few days I didn't bother to unpack. It seemed like a waste of time when my suitcase worked just as well as any dresser would. It's what I did whenever I went on vacations with my family. Besides, all of my important stuff, such as my money, was in my bag. I did, however, pull my laptop out so I could use it later on.

By the time I fully got settled in it was a little after two-thirty in the afternoon. Around the same time my head began to hurt but I thought nothing of it. Since we had left town around nine o'clock and drove about five hours straight I figured I was just tired. Sleeping in a van with four other people is harder than someone might think; either someone is being too loud or the road is too bumpy.

'Maybe it won't hurt to take a nap. Besides, I bet the others are doing the same.' I thought as I rounded to the other side of the bed. With another yawn I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed, allowing myself to drift off as soon as my head hit the pillow.

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 **Sorry if I mess up my tenses every now and then. Some are done on purpose but others might be accidental.**


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